Features: Conversation With...

Sep2008

Theory and Application

Eyewear’s Theory of Relativity Is a Winning Formula For Theory’s Andrew Rosen

Photographed by Stephen Sullivan

When it comes to eyewear
Andrew Rosen is like a man
who’s found religion. He’s
seen the light and wants to
share it with everyone.

For years, Rosen, founder and president
of Theory, a company known for its
exquisite fitting, sophisticated clothing
and accessories, shunned wearing even
sunglasses. Then time played its usual
tricks and he needed reading glasses.

“I didn’t wear glasses until a few years
ago,” admits Rosen. “Initially I needed
glasses to read. I started out with cheap
readers I bought at the drug store. Then I
began having problems seeing the TV.
So I went to the eye doctor. He said I
needed progressive [lenses]. So I got progressives.
Then all of sudden I realized
that glasses are a very important fashion
accessory. That I could change my look
based on what kind of frames I wore.”

Thus began an obsession with frames.

Rosen removes the glasses he’s wearing
and shows them off. “I got these glasses
because I wanted a modern day Yves
Saint Laurent look,” he notes. “I started
to have different pairs of eyeglasses so I
could change my look. Then I realized
it’s really not a bad idea to get into the
eyewear business.” Enter L’Amy America,
a company that, ironically enough, made
the frames YSL incorporated into his
personal signature style.

“L’Amy was one of the reasons we
decided to do eyewear, to be honest,” says
Rosen. “The relationship and the partnership
is what’s most important. The people
from L’Amy were terrific and engaging,
and had a point-of-view about eyewear
that was good for us. One of the things I
have been a big proponent of is not just—
for lack of a better word—slapping Theory’s
name on any product that we can, because
the brand has a powerful following in
the marketplace with the contemporary
consumer.”

The Theory women’s eyewear collection
launched in the spring and includes 12
optical and 12 sunwear styles. The line is
true to Theory’s clean and minimal mantra,
featuring both richly hued and beautifully
translucent acetate and artisan-brushed
metal frames. A men’s line is planned for
2009… which would make one believe that
Rosen’s eyewear collection is about to get
much bigger.

For Rosen, entering the optical fold has
been a learning process. “I don’t think it’s
an easy process making eyewear,” says
Rosen. “I make clothing. Clothing is a
very evolutionary process. We design
clothes and where we start is not really
where we end up. With each sample, you
can change the shape or the proportion.
You can wash the fabric if you don’t like
the way it comes out. It happens in a very
short period of time, unlike eyeglasses
where you have to make molds and you
have all these technical elements. Eyewear
is more of a challenge. But I believe each
line that we work on with L’Amy is going
to get better and better. They understand
more, we understand more. I believe very
much in evolution.”

Although he may be a novice when it comes
to eyewear, Rosen is certainly no beginner
when it comes to the fashion business. It is
quite literally in his veins. He is the third
generation of his family to work in the
industry. His grandfather, Arthur Rosen,
founded women’s clothing company Puritan
Fashions in 1910. His father, Carl
Rosen, built Puritan Fashions into one of
the most prominent apparel companies of
its time and was one of the first to develop modern licensing, creating licenses with
such names as Gloria Swanson, Chris Evert,
Diane Von Furstenberg and, ultimately,
Calvin Klein Jeans.

Andrew Rosen began his career at Puritan
Fashions in 1977 and went on to become
president and CEO in 1983. Puritan was
acquired by Calvin Klein and Barry
Schwartz in 1985 and Rosen
continued working closely
with them until 1989. At
that time, he took the
helm of Anne Klein, serving
as president and CEO
until 1995.

In 1997, he founded Theory, which
assumed a grassroots marketing strategy,
stressing the fit and fabric of the clothing
ahead of “big brand” marketing methods.
It’s a philosophy the company still adheres
to today.

“Our business is about making things that
have integrity and longevity, and not about
making editorial statements,” he explains.
“We were eight years in business before
we had a public relations department—
because it’s not about that. We’re about the
fit, feel and appropriateness for the modern
consumer. We have a strong design aesthetic.
Our collections are very forward but not
over the edge. They’re cool. But they’re
cool because of their fit and proportion.”

The Theory headquarters in downtown
Manhattan’s trendy Meat Packing District
also reflect that aesthetic. Designed by Rogers
Marvel Architects
and Zeff Design, they
are sleek and modern
with an urban campus
feel. “If you look
at our offices, they are
not architecturally overdone,” says Rosen.
“It’s about the simplicity of them. It’s about
the functionality of them. They’re cool
because there is no excess in them.”

Speaking of excess, Rosen is not an advocate
of the lifestyle label so many other
fashion designers and brands currently
court. He does not want his customers and
their surroundings saturated in Theory.

“Everyone talks about lifestyle brands,”
he says. “I get nervous when people talk
about a lifestyle brand because I don’t necessarily
believe the modern consumer, man
or woman, dresses head to toe in one brand.
In fact, I hate the concept. I believe all of
our clothing and accessories—although you
could wear it head to toe—is about having
individual pieces that are mixed and matched
through their wardrobe or lifestyle. And
the thought of them all being worn at the
same time isn’t as exciting or stimulating
to me as wearing them one at a time.”

However, he does want the Theory customer
to feel empowered by what they
choose to wear from the collection and to
have it fit into their daily lives. “I think it’s
very important no matter what you’re putting
on—whether it’s a pair of pants or a
shirt or eyewear—how it feels on you,” he
says. “You have to feel empowered wearing
it. Why do I wear these glasses? Because
they empower me or at least I feel that way.
Whenever I have an important meeting I
have to put on something that makes me
feel good. We are a contemporary company
making clothes for people’s everyday lives.
People’s everyday lives are about versatility
and functionality.”

While Rosen may not believe in over-Theorizing
his customers with the brand’s collection,
he does believe in the collective
when it comes to shaping Theory’s image.

“My vision for the company is powerful
but not singular,” says Rosen. “The tone is
set by my vision but it isn’t as narrow-minded
as that. We have a group of people here
who are similarly focused to move the
company forward. The beauty of Theory
is that it isn’t run by one singular person
whose name is on the door. We get involved
with companies that have integrity. That’s
why we got into eyewear. L’Amy was the
right fit. And in Theory everything is about
the fit.”